THS Shore soon transitioned into FTL travel. They were headed back the way they came from. The would hop over the same stars that they previously crossed to get here. The mission to the V Point was postponed for now. The internal crisis aboard shore was deemed too much for the mission to be continued. For that reason, the council decided to cancel the mission and recalled everyone. Evidently, many people weren't happy about this progression. But they could say little about it as the leadership had decided that it as the best course of action.
As the Shore hopped over one star system after another, It got closer and closer to it's destination, The Bican Star system.
The Bican system was one of the most important star systems of the Arcorn empire. Although the empire spanned hundreds of star systems, not all of them could be fully developed. The empire chose and developed specific star systems that was deemed good enough.
It was a really good approach as the resources needed to develop a star system were scarce. There were only so much to go around. So the empire chose specific star systems that were rich in resources, were relatively easy to travel to and from And had alteast a few planets that were habitable or could be terraformed to be developed further.
After being chosen, it usually took a few years to prep the star system. Once the system was opened for colonization, The many different corporations of the empire usually jumped on the opportunity. They did things like build star bases, Ports etc. Mining the resources, terraforming the planets, everything was
The Settlers usually moved in after the planets were ready. From there on, the planets and the star systems could usually be called colonized.
The Bican system was one such system. It's colonization had began about 8 decades ago. It was a strategically located in the Nina Star sector. It was a binary system with 2 Yellow dwarfs. Which provided pretty good conditions to have multiple habitable planets in the system.
It also featured a pair of Gas Gaints. One of which had a collection of some potent gases that could be easily used in synthesizing Ship grade fuel. Which was exceedingly valuable.
All of these points combined already gave everyone enough reasons to colonize this system. But there was something else in the star system that trumped the value of all these. That was a deposit of an exceedingly rare Exotic called Xura Crystals. These crystals were used to develop and produce the main laser turrets for the Generation 8 Warships. These crystals served as a crucial element in the humongous main laser turrets of the Shore and many other 8th Generation warships.
The value of this mine couldn't be quantified with credits. This was a strategic military resource. There were only 3 known mines of this Exotic in the whole human space. And the Arcorn Empire had the only one outside of the Terran republic. Everyone else still depended on the trade with the republic to get their hands on these crystals. The warships of the empire grew in numbers by an order of magnitude after this mine was found.
So protection of this mine was also a really crucial point of colonizing this system. But because it was so valuable, The empire had decided to turn the Bican system into one of the Military Commands for these parts of the empire.
The entire system was heavily fortified to the point that even if an alien or human war-party managed to travel to this system in the first place, they wouldn't be able to go anywhere close to any of the most important planets. No Matter their size.
Because of this, the Bican system had turned into one of the most advanced star system of the empire.
Boredom could be a punishment worse than death. To alleviate that, Kita was doing doing pushups in his cell. He only had his underwear on. After doing his 500th Pushup, he decided to take a break.
He had been continuously working out in his cell this past few months. Although he was quite fit, but he wasn't too muscular before, But continuously working out these past few days, had made his muscles more defined, his abs were more defined and his biceps became more fuller.
As he sat one the floor, leaning against his bed, the only piece of his furniture, he grabbed the water bottle from his side and drank a few sips before he began to take some deep breaths to calm down.
As he sat their, Sweat beads fell from all over his body. He threw his head back on his bed as he looked at the celling. His left hand reached for his neck where a small chain necklace that held the blue diamond.
For some reason, holding it calmed him down. He felt like warmth flowed through it into him. This calmed him down as his breathing got stable.
While working out he could never get the scenes of Helen's death out of his mind. This haunted him in the night as well as day. But holding the diamond, he felt like Helen was right beside him. And he could feel her presence next to him. It was probably his imagination, but he liked the feeling.
As he laid there, the door to the cell suddenly opened, And York walked in.
"Hey, Why're you naked? Put on some cloths. Have you got no shame?" York said as he looked at Kita.
"This is my cell, It's your fault for not knocking.", Kita said but he didn't look at York or let go of the necklace. He kept looking at the celling.
"Who knew you were laying in here buck naked."
"Expect the unexpected. Why're you here?"
"I brought some good news. We're almost at the Bican system. Out next hop will bring us there."
"That was fast!"
"We rushed back here, using both of our FTL drives continuously. Anyway, that's not why I'm here. It's about your trial." York said as he looked at Kita expectantly.
"What about it?", Kita didn't react to York.
"Dr. Kbom has decided to call in some favors. You might be able to keep your Job afterall."
"He did huh?", that amused Kita.
Although Dr. Kbom had been the best mentor he could ask for till now, He was always pretty righteous. He didn't expect Dr. Kbom to bend the rules for him.
"Yes, if everything goes right. You'll be pardoned and demoted to another regiment."
"You don't say." Kita said with disdain.
"What? Aren't you excited? You still get to keep your achievements and all!"
"That matter little to me. Is there anyway to get me out of the military without prison time?"
"That could probably be managed. But what are you gonna do if not in the military?"
This time Kita looked at York.
"Who do you think you're looking at? I'm Kita Thiels. I'm sure I can make something of myself if not in the military."
"Are you gonna work for one of the corporations?"
"Nah. The corporations are boring. There's much to see and much to do in the galaxy. I'm gonna go and see everything I can. Helen's loss made me realize that life is too short. We should do whatever we want instead of slaving away. I'm gonna do just that. I'm gonna travel throughout the galaxy.", Kita said in a plain but determined tone.
"You….. I'll let Dr. Kbom know of your request.", York said as he turned and left.
As He watched York walk out of the Cell, he threw his head back again and kept basking in the warmth that he felt and loved.